Ex-Danbury cop to be charged in assault

John Pirro

Published 10:52 pm, Thursday, January 30, 2014

DANBURY -- State Police have obtained an arrest warrant for Chris Belair, the Danbury police officer who was fired after he was caught on video last year yelling profanities at an undocumented immigrant and threatening to beat him, one of Belair's lawyers confirmed Thursday.

Belair will be charged with third-degree assault in the March 8 incident, said Ridgefield attorney Elisabeth Maurer, who is helping represent Belair before a state labor board. He is expected to surrender to state police on Friday, she said.

Belair, a five-year veteran of the department, was fired in June by Mayor Mark Boughton after a disciplinary hearing that led to the suspensions of three other Danbury officers. He is appealing his dismissal to the state Board of Arbitration and Mediation, and Maurer is assisting Belair's union lawyer in his effort to regain his job.

During the hearing, the other officers denied Belair had assaulted the undocumented immigrant driver, Maurer said, and video from the I-Cop camera system in one of the officers' cruisers was inconclusive in determining whether an assault had taken place.

"The city couldn't prove that he assaulted anyone and they had the I-Cop to look at," Maurer said. "I don't think the troopers can do any better."

In his termination letter, Boughton acknowledged the video was unclear. But he said a totality of the evidence convinced him that Belair had been "physically aggressive" with the driver, and forwarded the information to Danbury State's Attorney Stephen J. Sedensky III, who ordered the state police investigation.

The incident began when one of the other officers, Robert Madore stopped a car for running a red light on White Street. But the driver, who police said was intoxicated, came to a halt in the middle of the intersection, which necessitated officers Andrew Katkocin and Ryan Howley being called as backups.

Sometime during the stop, Belair showed up and began verbally abusing the driver and saying that his own uncle had been killed by an undocumented immigrant driving without a license.

"If there weren't four other cops here, I'd beat the s--- out of you," Belair could be heard shouting at the driver, according to an audio recording of the incident obtained by The News-Times.

At another point, Belair said, "But stop being in this country and almost f-----g killing people, `cause you're too f-----g stupid to call a ride. All right?" The driver responds, "I'm sorry, man."

The incident came to light when a video recorded by Howley on his cell phone was circulated within the department, It was eventually obtained by an undisclosed non-police officer, whose complaint sparked an internal investigation that led to the discplinary hearings.

The three other officers were suspended without pay for periods ranging from 30 to 180 days.